Report 2006-106 Recommendation 4 Responses

Report 2006-106: Department of Health Services: Its Licensing and Certification Division Is Struggling to Meet State and Federal Oversight Requirements for Skilled Nursing Facilities (Release Date: April 2007)

Recommendation #4 To: Health Services, Department of

To ensure that it fully complies with state law regarding communication with complainants, Health Services should reassess its current practice of delaying notification to complainants about investigation results until after it receives acceptable plans of correction from cited skilled nursing facilities. If Health Services continues to support this practice, it should seek authorization from the Legislature to adjust the timing of communications with complainants accordingly.

6-Month Agency Response

Health Services has inserted additional guidance in its complaint investigation procedures to address our recommendation. Specifically, Health Services now requires its staff to notify complainants of the results of investigations within 10 days following the last day of the on-site inspection. Further, Health Services quality assurance process includes auditing complaint files to see if the letter was sent in a timely manner and included in the hard copy file. (2008-406, p. 10)